Maria Nearl was warming up!
Her hands hadn't held a sword in a long time; usually, they were covered in hammers and oil. It would take some time to reacquaint herself with the feel of a sword.
In the past, this would never have happened, as she had once admired her all-powerful older sister, the idol of Kazimierz's younger generation, the Shining Knight, Margaret Nearl, who had won the Knight Competition championship right after her debut.
No one could have failed to be drawn to Margaret at that time, for she shone so brightly. And Maria, as Margaret's younger sister, naturally wholeheartedly wanted to become the second Shining Knight, even wanting to surpass her sister and become an even better knight.
She had been very serious about her sword training back then. No one expected that Maria would eventually fall in love with mechanical engineering, becoming a craftswoman who enjoyed tinkering with machines and equipment.
To say that Margaret's expulsion from Kazimierz had no influence would certainly be a lie, but she also truly felt her love for machines and equipment. Being an oil mechanic wasn't so bad.
If not for her family's situation, she would still love to stay in the workshop Sister Noah had prepared for her, tinkering with new inventions.
Holding the longsword, Maria's hand was steady. Even though she hadn't trained in a long time, she could still swing the sword from muscle memory.
However, before she could feel pleased with herself, her arm was sharply struck by a branch, causing the sword in Maria's hand to fall with a clatter onto the ground.
"Hold your sword more steadily. Your stance has too many flaws. Are you doing calisthenics?"
"…Uh, but…" Maria wanted to say that Kuro had launched a surprise attack, but she probably knew that even if she said it, Kuro would lecture her: 'Will your opponent stand there openly waiting for you to be ready before attacking?'
So she could only pick up the sword from the ground again. She had voluntarily accepted Kuro Jie's training, so there was nothing to complain about.
Kuro, as Sister Noah's most formidable bodyguard and her most trusted person, taking time to train her was already a favor due to Sister Noah's request.
Although Noah couldn't see the training scene at this moment, she had a general idea of it. Kuro really didn't hold back at all.
The force of that last strike was quite strong; Maria's arm probably already had whip marks on it. But this was training. Sweating during training was to avoid bleeding on the field.
Bleeding during training was to avoid losing one's life on the field. Although she doted on Maria, she knew that the current training was necessary. The Knight Competition was not a true classical knight duel in any meaningful sense.
After years of entertainment and commercialization, the Knight Competition had become the gladiatorial arena of the new era. Participants granted the title of Knight were essentially gladiators participating in a fight.
To create better visuals and generate hype, Knight Competitions required signing a death waiver, meaning that bloodshed, or even a knight dying on the field, was entirely possible.
Even if you were a member of the Nearl family, this could not be avoided. Given this, having Kuro train Maria beforehand became her only condition for Maria to sign up.
As long as she could complete the training under Kuro, then at least she should be able to keep her life on the field.
Noah had great faith in Kuro's abilities; after all, her own survival to this day was the best proof.
The training continued until noon when Noah finally called a halt to this one-sided "bullying."
Maria now felt pain all over her body. Kuro's training was actually infinitely close to actual combat, except Kuro held a branch while Maria held a proper sword.
Even so, Maria never once managed to touch Kuro, and Kuro simply stood there, not moving a single step.
This was a pure disparity in strength. No matter how many times she tried to attack, Kuro could always easily knock the sword out of Maria's hand with the branch.
If she could have initially said she wasn't ready, after this entire morning, she was completely convinced. All her attacks seemed to be seen through.
In front of Kuro, she felt like the little kid waving a broken branch.
"Alright, alright, let's stop here." Noah turned her wheelchair, following the sound to Maria's front, then extended her hand.
Maria very consciously offered her face, allowing Noah to touch her cheek. After a careful examination, Noah finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Fortunately, your face is fine. Kuro was a bit heavy-handed."
"It's my duty," Kuro said nothing, nor did she need to explain. After all, if she had been holding a sword, Maria might have been in pieces—referring to her limbs.
"Hehe, it's fine, I can heal myself. There won't be any scars." Maria smiled a little naively. Although she had been unilaterally beaten for a while, if it could be exchanged for Sister Noah's comfort and solace, it wasn't really a losing deal. "It's just… am I too weak?"
"That depends on who you're comparing yourself to," Noah said with a smile. "If you compare yourself to me, you're very strong. But if you compare yourself to Mar—… Kuro—"
Noah didn't continue, but her meaning was clear. She had originally intended to say 'Margaret,' but was worried about disheartening Maria, so she changed her words.
"I… I'll at least be able to touch her in the future," Maria said, a little embarrassed. "This time it's just because I haven't held a sword in too long… that's why."
"Mm, I believe you. But let's stop here for today. I have to go to dinner with a business partner later, and I must take Kuro with me," Noah said with a smile. "Sorry, this can't be put off."
"It's fine, it's fine, this morning alone is enough for me to digest!" Maria quickly shook her head. "Besides, I'm already very grateful that you could spare time to train me. I can handle it myself from now on."
"Is that so?" Noah nodded thoughtfully, then turned to Kuro and said, "How about I go alone this time? There shouldn't be anyone at the Commercial Federation who would be hostile towards me, right?"
"…" Kuro didn't speak, but her silence also represented an attitude. After a long while, Noah finally sighed. "Kuro, are you being a bit overprotective?"
"I don't think so."
"…Alright, maybe so." Noah shook her head, giving up the idea of having Kuro stay to train Maria.